This year already has brought several firsts in my life. For the first time I am renting my own house, paying bills and making weekly trips for groceries and house supplies. The biggest first of all, however, is that I am responsible for making all my meals. Prior to living in my little abode on Franklin Ave., I never had imagined that balancing schoolwork and domesticity could be so challenging.
Growing up I was blessed enough to have my mother cook delicious and creative meals every night of the week. I was spoiled by her well-balanced, expertly-executed dishes. Breakfast and dinner were always easy for me to take care of on my own thanks to our well-stocked fridge and pantry and I always knew dinner would be made for the family.
Living without my mother's dinners and the dining halls' ease has left me to my own devices. I have been motivated to cook at least one thing that will last me a few days throughout the week. I've successfully made a chickpea salad, double split-pea soup, black bean burgers, pasta sauce, marinated and grilled tofu and chickpea cutlets (thank you Veganomicon). There is a sense of fulfillment that comes with each kitchen success; a type of fulfillment of which is new to me. If I've made something with my own hands, and it has turned out tasty, I feel as though I can conquer any recipe. Then there was the afternoon that I thought I could dominate a vegan chocolate-coconut macaroon recipe. The domestic goddesses were not shining upon me that day.
I came home from class determined to make these macaroons in a snap. How difficult could it be? I followed the directions to a tee (boiled almond milk, added salt and sugar, turned off heat, added coconut). Then I thought that adding (non-vegan) chocolate chips would be a brilliant idea. Not only did these chips immediately melt, but they also made the macaroons too wet to bake properly. What I hoped would have been delectable chocolate-coconut goodness turned out to be an oily, mushy mess.
While I may sound a tad dramatic, I was bothered by my baking mishap. I was embarrassed at my experiment gone awry. I made sure to rid the house of any evidence of my unfortunate macaroons before my roommate returned home. I still haven't shared with her the tale of the oily macaroons, as most of her baking ventures have turned out extravagantly scrumptious (probably because they aren't vegan).
I suppose there are always going to be kitchen hits and misses, but it can be a blow to one's domestic goddess ego if one stumbles. At least I haven't caught anything on fire... yet.
- Kailey Harless
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Kailey Harless
